They Would Heal
by xThe Painted Lady
Summary: The war had bruised them, but it had bruised them all. Ron spots Hermione with the shining light in her eyes he hadn't seen in so long and she confesses her joy to him.


_**A/N:** Written for the HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY Competition on the HPFC Forum. We had the choice of picking a number between 1 and 50 for a pairing, and between 1 and 100 for a prompt, to write a "cute, happy story." I chose pairing 49 (Ron/Hermione) and prompt 80 (artifacts)._

_I present Miss BountyHunterGirl134 her birthday gift from me. ;) Happy birthday! I do hope you like..._

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They glittered before the firelight, big, round, and shining ornaments of every color glowed from their places on the tree. They seemed to twinkle with delight at being awed at and adored by the young woman in front of them. Hermione pushed a brown curl of hair behind her ear as she put a finger up next to the tree, not only admiring the way the ornaments gleamed, but the way the diamond on her hand danced in the light.

They seemed to reflect the happiness that had welled up in her heart over the past week, and she lightly kicked the small box that sat under the tree - her gift to Ron. Oh, she was excited to see his reaction. She was almost giggling in eagerness.

It would be their first Christmas together, for they had gotten married over the summer the same year and Hermione kept reciting the words of her surprise. Part of her was slightly nervous, how Ron would react she wasn't quite sure, but her joyfulness seemed to override that emotion and she actually took to the kitchen in a slight skip, stopping dead when she entered and a spoon fell to the floor.

"Ron!"

"Sorry, dear." Ron smirked slightly as he stooped down to pick the spoon off the floor. Hermione sniffed, but failed at concealing a giggle. Ron had taken to calling her dear, as a joke, and it normally would irritate her but this time, she felt too bright and cheery to let it bother her.

Ron wrapped an arm around her as she twirled her wand gracefully above the simmering pot of stew. He put a finger under her chin and turned her to look at him, the smell of the food encircling them as he did so.

He lightly kissed her lips. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she muttered, her eyes gleaming with something Ron could only describe as happiness. This, in all honestly, shocked him. Hermione had been anything of what she was over the past few years, but the war had taken its toll on everybody. She remained happy, but not the same and he'd long ago missed the happy gleam that used to shine in her eyes. He kissed her once more, her feelings soaking into him, happy that she was happy. He remained ignorant to the reason, however.

"Our first Christmas alone," she suddenly said, almost absentmindedly.

"Yeah, it's wonderful, isn't it?" He kissed her again. "Amazing that Mum actually let us do it."

"Why wouldn't she?" Hermione asked, titling her head. Though, she looked slightly amused.

Ron shrugged, before his hands rove around her waist and he pressed her closer up against his body. Hermione leaned into him and sighed contentedly, her hands going up and around his neck.

"Do I get to know about your 'early Christmas gift,' yet?" Ron asked, his voice soft against her hair.

"No," Hermione replied, a wide smile appearing on her face as she closed her eyes. Just the thought of Ron's 'early Christmas gift' made her heart flutter with joy, but she disciplined herself, and refused to show him until later. "I told you already, later."

"Well, when is later?"

"Before we go to bed, I promise." She smiled brightly at him.

"Fine." He gently pulled her hand away from where it was raised above the pot, and pulled her closer to him - pressing her completely up against his body. He kissed her, and she kissed him, abandoning all her other thoughts except him, and her little secret.

oOo

She sat before the Christmas tree, listening to the clock tick, tock, tick, tock, to midnight. She'd reopened and sealed again the gift she had for Ron. She bit her lip, it looked it too. The wrapping was messy, and the bow had become loose after many ties and reties. She simply couldn't help herself - couldn't help herself from thinking the same thoughts, couldn't help herself from gazing into the small box, where tiny orange and red baby pajamas laid sitting.

She heard Ron come down the stairs and took a deep breath in, her nerves at last catching up to her. How would he react? Would he be happy? Would he be sad, or would he be angry? She didn't know, and she soon found herself almost not wanting to know.

"Hermione?"

"In here," she called to him, and he rushed into the living room.

"Blimey, you-"

"Yes, I'm very fast." She smiled slightly, and pushed the box towards him.

He sat down, and glanced at her, before taking the box in his hands.

"Hermione?" He was staring at her, concernedly, and Hermione suddenly realised that she had failed to keep the nervousness from showing in her eyes.

"Just open it," she said, and smiled a bit more. She jerked her head at the box.

He began to tear the wrapping, and Hermione took another deep breath. Though this time, she did a rather good job at concealing it.

Her thoughts suddenly ran back to the past week, as she watched Ron throw the gold ribbon to the side.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

She'd stared, eyes wide and disbelieving, at the tiny Muggle device in her hand, and she'd cried - cried tears of joy, for an overwhelming sense of happiness had run through her.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

Ron was slowly lifting the top of the box,

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

And she'd glowed, as she stared at herself in the mirror. Running her hands over her currently flat stomach and just imagining the life that was already blooming inside her, and how she would be holding it just a few months later.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

"Hermione." His eyebrows furrowed, and he slowly lifted the clothing from the box. He held them up. "What..." He studied it for a moment, before his gaze moved to his wife's eyes.

She rolled her eyes.

"Guess."

"You're... You're..." He pointed a finger at her, his eyes widening.

She nodded, and she felt a million emotions run through her, like firecrackers - bursting in her stomach, like fire - burning nerves threatening overcome her, like a dam - fighting with its own walls to keep tears from flowing down her face, happiness, sadness, and fear rose in her body, until Ron threw his arms around her.

"Hermione, you're..." He looked into her eyes, speechless.

"Oh, just say it." She laughed, and the dam broke - tears rolled down her face.

"You're pregnant."

She nodded, once again, and he swept her up and to her feet.

"Hermione," he whispered, and she could hear the happiness in his voice as he forced his lips onto hers. Her arms went around his neck and she kissed him back, happiness flooding through her. His reaction had been perfect, and he picked her up wedding style and spun her around. She giggled, and she saw a glow of joy shine in Ron's eyes - a joy she hadn't seen in years.

And they sunk to the floor as the clock beamed midnight, their lips locked together and enveloped in each other.

"I love you," Hermione whispered - her breath warm against Ron's lips.

"I love you, too, Hermione."

The baubles on the tree danced in the firelight, glowing, and lighting up the already sugar coated air as their kiss slowed, but they remained in each other's arms. Their battle scars would heal, sugar can't deepen the wound, and now a baby was coming for them.

They would heal.

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_**A/N:** So I forgot about the prompt... And I suck at writing Trio Era... Just in case you couldn't already tell, and this on the whole doesn't seem very original but... :( I hope you liked it... Please review, and happy birthday BountyHunterGirl! Thanks for reading._

_~ Painted Lady_


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